Settlers is a real time strategy game, simulating the building and expansion of a medieval type settlement. Released for the Amiga in 1993 it was the first game of its type on any platform, the IBM PC release not following for another year. It gave rise to countless follow ups and even the smash hit modern-day tablet game ‘Clash of Clans’ has its roots firmly planted in Settlers' territory. You can play against another human opponent or against up to three of a selection of potential computer opponents each with varying ‘personalities’. Everything is controlled via the mouse by using a series of on-screen menus.

Are you up for a challenge? Before you answer, you should probably read this latest "Your Sinclair" style review from The Games Helmet. Ian Munro's 2015 release "The infeasible game" will have even the most hardened retro gaming veterans throwing their joysticks against the wall in frustration - or at least, hurling some colourful language in the general direction of their poor old Speccy... remember, it's very, very old and fragile, so remember to give it a cuddle afterwards, OK?

Lovecraft's Untold Stories isn't the only upcoming horror game to grace our screens this year, as we've recently been informed by Pixoala that they are soon to launch their third-person psychological horror ' Horns of Fear ', which will be available for PC as from 7th June. Now unlike the other game in this one you play as Jim Sonrimor, a journalist fascinated by the paranormal that upon a caller invite has found himself on a terrifying journey to unravel the mysteries hidden within a dark mansion.

In 1988 Capcom released one of the finest Arcade games ever to grace the gaming scene, and that game was the incredible Ghouls 'n Ghosts, which appeared on lots of different systems. It is a game that if you haven't played it, you are seriously missing out! So as an inspiration to GNG, the developer Casual bit Games has announced that the gorgeous upcoming game of Battle Princess Madelyn has just been teased again with a new Gameplay Video!

Year in year out I always talk about Dungeon Crawlers, It doesn't matter if it's a new game, mod, or just a trip down memory lane related to games such as Eye of the Beholder, I just have to talk about it. So it stands to reason why in complete shock that we've just been told Andreas Larsson‎ has rebooted his effort to bring this incredible game of Eye of The Beholder as a port to the C64!

We've been checking out the latest upcoming games and we think we've come across a game that will not only suit those of you who love gore and horror, but also for fans of the famed horror writer H.P Lovecraft. Titled as ' Lovecraft’s Untold Stories ' this upcoming game in Early Access June 22nd, is an Action RPG with rogue-like elements by LLC Blini Games that puts in control of 5 different characters exploring randomly generated levels based in H.P. Lovecraft stories, fighting cultists and all kinds of monsters!

Put the kids to bed and get ready for untold horror, as Madmind Studio have recently released their gory filled first person survival horror game ' Agony ', which is now available to buy through Steam and also available for Playstation 4 and Xbox One. Featuring bloody visuals in the horrific depths of hell, you begin your journey as a tormented soul without any memories of your past, and must explore, and interact with other damned people and possess simple minded demons to find a way to escape, or forever suffer the ultimate torment.

I'm going to get straight to the point, if you love old school arcade racers, beautiful pixel graphics and drifting then you need to keep on reading! Slipstream was successfully funded on Kickstarter back in 2016. It was presented as an racing game that drew inspiration from the old games from the 80s and early 90s and it definitely shows! You can clearly see that the classic arcade games like Outrun and OutRunners was a big inspiration for Slipstream. The game is now finally released and we just had to try this out!

It is not often we talk about games with lush graphics and interesting gameplay, but it looks as if The Siege and The Sandfox could be the next best thing if you're into Metroidvania's. You see this game in development by Cardboard Sword and published by Chucklefish isn't your average platformer, as according to the team behind the game, this is a Stealthvania. An infusion of stealth into the familiar Metroidvania experience, creating a unique twist on the ever-popular genre lovingly realised in an evocative 2D art style, enriched with the power of Unreal Engine 4

I bought my first Amiga in 1993 and one of games I bought on day-one was Premier Manager, a cracking football management game. I was instantly hooked and played it very late into that first night (or more accurately the following morning), which was unfortunate as the next day was my (first) wedding day!

Don't get me wrong Stardew Valley is a rather nice game with inclusive farming duties and money to be made, but as for me I want more "Action" in my game and less of the cute. So here we have a game to fill that gap called ' Moonlighter '; an upcoming Steam release (Today) that features not just the running of a shop but the ability to go off on a wild adventure, battling deadly enemies and big dangerous bosses!

Oh glorious news indeed as we've recently been informed thanks to Per-Ola Eriksson, that the Amiga is going to get a new game called 'Coco Banana ', which is still in development and the developers AMITEN SOFTWARE are looking for funding through donations. This game that is being developed using AMOS, is being worked on by a team of people, will be free and may well be shown off with a playable demo down the line.

If you've been following Indie Retro News throughout the last few years you would've by now received a lovely new Amiga 1200 case in your hands all glistening in a colour of your choice, which shows how reliable the team behind the Kickstarter was at getting the products to your door. Fast forward to this year however and the same team as A1200.net are hoping the Amiga 500(+) case crowd funding campaign to be equally successful, but at 96% of a $155,000 goal and just half a day to go, they need all the help they can get to hit that goal.

Way back in the 1990's many of us had the pleasure of playing the entertaining platformer ' Caveman Ninja (Joe & Mac) ', which was played as either the original on the Arcades or as many of the ports on the Super NES, Genesis, Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Amiga, and PC. Well if you remember this fun game, you'll be pleased to know not only is it coming to the Nintendo Switch as of 31st May, but it's also coming soon to the Playstation 4, XBox One, and Steam thanks to Flying Tiger Entertainment.

Something different for this evening and more especially for retro fans owning a PC, as we've recently been told by Retro Activos, that they have released a game called 'The Last Magic Forest', which is a small tribute to a great game that marked their childhood named as 'Magical Kid Wiz'; an MSX game from the year 1986 by Seibu Kaihatsu.

Our Twitter feed has gone a bit crazy this evening and there's a very good reason for that, as thanks to a heads up by @matteusbeus and @RetroGamingRVG we've learnt of a brand new Kickstarter for an upcoming Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Exclusive game called ' Tanzer '. Yes that's right the Sega Mega Drive is about to get a whole lot of action going on, as Mikael Tillander's horizontally scrolling, full on action hack and slash platformer maybe coming to a Sega console near you!

In the 90s there were really only two platform games. There was Mario, or there was Sonic. Opinion was divided as to which was the best, but it was rare to find someone in both camps. Me? I was a Mario man, preferring the challenge of the slower pace, picking your way through a level carefully, over the manic, ‘charge through as fast as possible’ methods, normally employed by those that preferred their gaming characters to be blue and pointy.

Some games are instantly impressive. I’m sure you know the kind of thing. When you first sat down to play the likes of: The Chaos Engine, Cannon Fodder, The Settlers or Speedball 2, you knew very quickly that you wouldn’t be disappointed. These were games put together with love and panache, carrying a veneer of quality that is simply unmistakable. You may be dazzled by technical wizardry, wowed by sumptuous graphics, delighted by stellar sound or drawn in by beautifully fashioned atmosphere.

While many of you followed the Kickstarter campaign for INTI CREATES CO., LTD 'Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon' which ended up as a huge success hitting an impressive $5,545,991 goal. You'll be pleased to know that the stretch goal of the Kickstarter campaign as ' Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon ' has now been released for Nintendo3DS, PS4, PSVita, and PC!

If you're looking for something slightly different but sticking to that racing genre that we have featured so much of this week, then look no further than Ultimate Racing 2D; an upcoming top down racing game that doesn't just have 35 racing classes but it also has over 45 speedy tracks, an extensive career mode, championship mode and even an online multiplayer mode which is all coming to Steam, 24th May!

Although I prefer a good website full of indie and retro gaming news "ahem", there's many people out there who like the feeling of a physical product in their hands that can be opened up at work, on the train or just sitting beside a tree on a lovely summers day. Thankfully there's a new issue of goodness to come that will satisfy your needs, as Fusion Gaming Magazine will be launching the first issue of ' FUSION ', at the low price of £3.99

Barbarian is a one-on-one fighter game whereby you have to take down your opponent using a variety of moves, of which the majority involve your sword. You can spin it around and wait for someone to walk into it, an over-the-head chop is also available along with a side swipe as many of the preferred ways to kill in this late 1980's game. But even though it is rated as a great game, there's a team of people out there who have decided to give it a much needed overhaul based on the Amiga version not providing any improvements over the C64 version, except sound and a higher screen resolution (Colin's post)

Bubblesoft recently released their wonderful platformer game, Nixy The Glade Sprite for the ZX Spectrum (128k) and Spectrum ULA Plus using AGD (Arcade Game Designer). Previews of Nixy were released earlier this year to a rousing reception. This is my first review on Indie Retro News, so I hope you enjoy!

For our third installment of "What's new in Pico-8" we have a treat. Would you believe someone has created a full voxel terrain engine in the diminutive fantasy console? Well someone has and unsurprisingly it was user electricgryphon, with a de-make/fantasy prequel to the venerable Comanche series of helicopter sims.

In 1983 Ultimate Play the Game released a rather unusual game called "Pssst" for the ZX Spectrum, in which you played as Robbie the Robot on a personal struggle to stop deadly garden pests from swarming and eating at his lovely garden plant. If you remember this fun game you'll be pleased to know that today Salvakantero has released an updated Amstrad version of this game as a conversion of the original classic!

Oh what a beautiful day it is today and more so when there's games to play such as this charming platformer ' Foxy Land ' developed by BUG-Studio for Windows, macOS, and Linux. In this game you play as a lovable fox called Foxy that is on a quest to not only save his love, but also has to collect all the cherries and jewels found throughout all of the challenging levels.

Pico-8 is not without an abundant supply of platform games, being that it was made almost specifically to make them. Celeste was one of the first and has served as the basis for many since as it's usually a new Pico-8 users foray into modifying a game engine. In the second pico-8 roundup feature, Tomb of G'nir takes hat model and shifts it up a gear.. or ten!

In the first of three "What's New in Pico-8" roundup features we have Syctek - A simple to play, hard to master addictive vertical SHMUP. Designed for an arcade cabinet and meant to spawn hi-score rivalry among you and your friends.

Some time back we mentioned the Steam Greenlight success of ' Slipstream '; a game developed by Ansdor as an arcade racer inspired by the visuals, music, games and cars from the 80's and 90's. Well fast forward to this week and that same game is finally available on Steam as a game built on a custom engine with an authentic retro feel and unique graphics!

Great news if you are a ZX Spectrum gamer as we've just found out through Facebook, that John Blythe of Rucksack Games has announced the release of his latest ZX Spectrum game ' Rubicon - Run the Maze '. Yes indeed from the same developer who brought you RavenWood, Foggy, Circuitry and even Professor, comes a brand new game where you play as NYM on a right of passage that must cross the Rubicon maze!

In 2014 developer Ghislain de Blois released Realms of Quest IV for the Commodore VIC-20 through the publisher Psytronik. A fine tribute to the classic style turn based, party based dungeon crawlers of the 1980‘s, with graphics reminiscent of the early Wizardry games I-IV. Fast forward to a more recent update however, and @hitfan2000 has just tweeted an update to his upcoming new game in the series for the VIC-20 as Realms of Quest V.

Earlier this month we were hinting on Indie Retro News that the classic game of Barbarian(Death Sword) which was first released in 1989 for a multitude of retro systems was coming to the Amiga as an enhanced version with an overhaul to the colours and possibly more. Well you'll be pleased to know it is actually happening and the team behind the game have shown off some more screenshots.

In 1989 many of us had the pleasure of playing the Arcade classic ' Cabal '; a game by TAD Corporation in which you could move your military guy along the bottom of the screen using deadly force blasting away enemies such as soldiers and even tanks! It was a brilliant game for its time, and it looks as if ' Gunman Tales ' by FobTi interactive is following that gameplay style, except this time it's heading out to the wild west!

Antonio Savona has published some awesome looking gameplay for his latest work in progress: Guy in a Vest. Guy is in no way affiliated to any well known Austrian action heroes turned USA Governors in any way! I caught up with Antonio today, to do some digging on his brand new game... Here's what I was able to find out:

So, whaddya fancy? Fish and chips? Burger? Pickled egg? Whatever your takeaway nosh of choice might happen to be, the Games Helmet has you covered with his latest review, Stephen Nicol's 2017 platformer "Takeout Freakout". Well, OK, the food may not be real so you might want to grab a packet of crisps before you load up the game - this one will leave you with a monster appetite! And possibly an overwhelming urge to just play Manic Miner instead...

The T Storey, G Rottensteiner, A Volkers and S Collier Facebook group has been a buzz of likes and shares today as according to the team behind the fantastic game of Argus, the upcoming Sizzler and of course the eagerly awaited Blackstar. They have recently announced with images the C64 game of 'AGE OF HEROES', which looks very much like a high quality Rastan but instead developed by Achim Volkers, music and sfx by Saul Cross and art and design by Trevor Storey.

Sometimes i stumble upon some graphic replacement hacks that are so impressive that it's hard to believe that despite the systems limitations it can looks this good, and the romhack “New New New New Mario Bros” is one of these! This is a graphic replacement hack for Mario Bros. Classic Series. This game is an improved version of Mario Bros released by Nintendo, if you want to know more about this version of Mario Bros you can read more about it in a review that i wrote here on Indie Retro News.

The Atari 8-bit homebrew scene has really gone all out this week, especially with TRAIN, Minotaur 16k and HeliCommander. But now it looks as if a new top dog has appeared to push them aside, as earlier today we were informed by both Jarosław Padula and Zbigniew 'Saberman' Zielinski of the release of an Arcade perfect port of Time Pilot, which according to the team behind the port is one of the best arcade games of all time.

If you remember growing up playing 16bit platformers either on the SNES or Sega Megadrive such as Mickey Mouse or even Ghouls 'n Ghosts, then this news will delight even the hardiest of retro gamers. As 'Fox n Forests' developed by Bonus Level Entertainment, a gorgeous looking 16-bit inspired pixelated platformer, where you play as a Furry that can loot, upgrade, hack and slash and even change the very seasons of the game you're playing in, has finally been launched!

Coffee Crisis from Mega Cat Studios is a neo-rogue brawler that puts you in the shoes of the only baristas on Earth with enough heavy metal in their veins to fend off an alien assault. Fill your cup, hit the streets, and knock the beans out of some aliens!

About Lords of Strife
You are a lowly peasant that has only known the simple life since the day of your birth. Day to day life has largely stayed the same, until one day a Dark Lord invaded your small village. Rumors are, that other villages, and towns have been attacked by Dark Lords as well.

Bounder, which was originally released for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and other 8-bits has finally been released for the Android based platform. Yes indeed everyone's favourite tennis ball-based game from the 80's, as one of the most successful selling games has once again appeared for Mobile as thanks to Developers Swivel Creations partnership with Lu Studios you'll be able to play this classic all over again with all the enjoyment kept intact.

Ports and remakes, what a week this has turned out to be, and now we look towards the MSX for a port as the msxdev website has just announced that the C64 version of ' Fort Apocalypse ' has been ported over the MSX as the 4th entry in the MSXdev'18 competition. This game that appeared in 1982 created originally by Steve Hales and published by Synapse Software for the Atari 8bit, was later ported over to the C64 by Joe Vierra of which this newest version is ported from.

Barbarian(Death Sword), was first released in 1989 for the C64 and later ported to other systems such as the Acorn, Amiga, Amstrad, Atari, Apple II, BBC Micro, MS-DOS and even the ZX Spectrum. It was a cool game indeed that featured a one to two player mode as a Barbarian faced each other off in deadly combat, with even a deadly ability to be able to slice at each other to the death, which usually ended up with a head being chopped clean off and kicked to one side. It is was a game that has lived on through a generation and after a number of fan ports that have appeared in the past, it looks as if the Amiga is going to get its very own enhanced version called ' Barbarian+ '.

In 2016 we were the first to announce another of Chris Wilkins Kickstarters regarding The story of the Commodore Amiga in pixels, which as always was a resounding success hitting a very respectable £60,890 goal. However this article isn't so much about the book, but one of the perks as at the time it was the first proper hints that the Atari ST version of Starquake was going to be ported over to the Amiga.

The last article today and boy is it a good one, as we've just come across an announcement from the Mojon Twins that they are making a new platform game called 'Bootèe', which from the look of it could be released at some point this year ( Or very soon if we are lucky ). When we asked for more info regarding this game, The Mojon Twins told us it will be a simple platformer and the first one who sends them a screenshot of the ending will win a special compilation cassette for Spectrum and CPC!

Another day and more retro gaming news as PixelGlass, the same company behind this years soon to debut Amiga game AlarCity, have just posted a big feature update with a number of screenshots for their upcoming Amiga OCS Action Puzzler 'Worthy' , which is planned to be released as a budget, commercial release by Pixelglass at some point soon in 2018!

When I was but a Teen, you would've seen me at the local Arcades or at home playing the very latest in 16bit/32bit racers such as Outrun, Lotus or even XJ220 on the Amiga. It was a time that gave me the feeling of intense speed and near misses without driving a real car and ending up in the local clink. Thankfully AquirisGS weren't the only ones to experience that greatness, as in less than 24 hours they will be releasing a homage to the 80's and 90's in Horizon Chase Turbo!

Once again it is back to the AtariAge forums as we've just found out Peter J Meyer with Lance Ringquist has officially released on Cartridge their new game ' HeliCommander ', which is inspired by the arcade version of Choplifter and the Activision game Chopper Command. According to peteym5 this side scrolling shooting game is for the Atari XL/XE and is priced at $39.95 with a 5200 version coming soon!